Android Device Manager Remote Data Wipe

With the new Android Device Manager pushing out all over, we just had to have a look at the new remote wipe feature. I said goodbye to my game progress, made sure any pictures were safely uploaded to Google+, and got to work.

It’s simple, both in theory and in practice. Locate your device through the Device Manager webpage, then send the “Erase Device” command. You’ll be warned about losing all your important stuff, and that once you wipe the device you can no longer locate it. This makes sense, as you’re not signed into Google on it anymore.

After making that all-important click, your device will shut down and reboot into recovery and preform a factory reset. If the device gets shut off before it can reboot, it will reboot into recovery the next time it’s restarted. This makes us wonder how Android Device Manager’s device wipe utility will work with a custom recovery, and we’re guessing not very well. That’s a project for another day.

For now, hit the break and have a look at the process. This should satisfy your curiosity without wiping your own precious data away.